Friday, 27 September 2013

TAKE A BOOTH SEAT at the food dept.'s American diner. A beef burger, cherry cola float and would you like fries with that?

This is our take on what you might find in an American diner. Nothing beats a
beaut burger! Of
course if you want to make it more Aussie you could add beetroot, pineapple and
fried egg…

Makes 8 burgers.

• 1 kg freshly
minced chuck steak

• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire
sauce• 1 clove garlic,
crushed• 1 tablespoon
finely chopped continental parsley• sea salt and
freshly ground black pepper, for seasoning• 8 rashers of
streaky bacon• 1 tablespoon olive
oil• 8 slices Colby
cheese • ½ cup whole egg
mayonnaise• 2 tablespoons
American mustard• 8 seeded burger
buns, split in half• 8 oak leaf
lettuce leaves, washed• 2 large vine
ripened tomatoes, thickly sliced• ½ cup Homemade
spicy ketchup1. Combine the
mince, Worcestershire sauce, garlic and parsley in a bowl. Using your hands
mince the ingredients together and divide onto 8. 2. Gently pass the
balls of mince from hand to hand until they form a firm ball. Push the balls
down to 2cm thick, season both sides of the patties with salt and pepper and
set aside.3. Heat a bbq
plate or large frying pan and cook the rashers of bacon until browned and
crispy, set aside and keep warm.4. Add oil to the
bbq or pan and cook the burger patties for approximately 5 minutes on each side
for medium. Turn and cook for 5 minutes on the other side. Remove and put onto
a plate, place a slice of cheese on each patty and lightly cover with foil.
Allow to rest in a warm place for five minutes.5. While the
burgers are resting combine the mayonnaise and mustard in a small mixing bowl,
set aside.6. Toast the inside
of the hamburger buns until golden. Spread the inside of the buns with mustard
mayonnaise.7. Top the bun
base with lettuce, slices of tomato and then the beef patty. Top with a rasher
of bacon and Homemade spicy ketchup. Serve immediately.food dept. fact:You can make your own chuck steak mince if you like. Trim any sinew from
the chuck steak, leaving the fat. The fat will keep the patties juicy, tender
and full of flavour. Cut into 2 cm cubes and freeze for 30 minutes. Pulse in
your food processor until coarsely minced. More or less depending on how you
like your burgers.

Spicy Homemade Ketchup

This makes a
delicious spicy ketchup with smokey flavours from the paprika, but you can
also use your favourite store bought
ketchup too.

• 1 teaspoon sea
salt flakes• 1 bay leaf1. Heat the oil
in a large pot over and medium heat and sauté the onion and garlic until transparent but not browned.2. Add the
ground spices and sauté for 1-2 minutes or until the spices become fragrant. 3. Add the
remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Bring to the boil and then reduce to
a simmer, cook for 15 minutes or until thickened to a spoonable consistency,
remove the bay leaf and discard.4. Using a
stick blender, blend the ketchup until smooth.Pour into sterialzed jars and store in the refrigerator for up to 3
months.

The Food Dept.'s Chips Cooked Three Times with Chipotle, Coriander, and Lime Salt

These tasty chips may not be the traditional diner frogs legs or French fries, but they are definately mighty fine! Serves 6-8.

• 2 tablespoons
salt flakes

• finely grated
rind, 1 lime

• 2 tablespoons
coriander leaves

• 1 dried
chipotle chilli, or more, to taste

• 1 kg desiree or
bintji potatoes

• 1 litre
vegetable oil

1. To make the flavoured
salt, preheat the oven to 150°C (300F)Combine the salt flakes, lime rind, coriander leaves and chipotle chilli
on a lined baking tray.

2. Bake in the
oven for 15 minute, turn off the oven and allow to stand in the warm oven until
cool.

3. Remove and
discard the stem from the chipotle chilli and place the chilli into a small
food processor. Process until finely ground, add the salt, lime and coriander
leaves and process until all ingredients are ground together.

4. Store in a jar
until ready to use, keeps for up to 6 months.

5. To make the
fries, peel the potatoes and cut them lengthways into 1½ cm chips.Rinse well in cold water to remove any excess
starch, drain and dry with a clean tea towel.

6. Steam the chips
for 15 minutes until the chips are partially cooked. Remove from the steamer,
spread onto a lined tray until cool and dry.

7. Heat oil in a
wok or large saucepan until 170°C (325F) and fry the chips for 5 minutes, they
should not have any colour at this stage. Drain on paper towel.

8. Just before
serving reheat the oil to 190°C (375F). Fry the chips in batches until golden
brown, drain on paper towel and sprinkle with the chipotle, lime and coriander
salt. Serve immediately.

• 1 tablespoon chili
sauce (vary the quantity to suit your taste and the strength of chilli sauce
you have)

• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire
sauce

• 1 teaspoon
lemon juice

• 1 tablespoon
finely chopped onion

• 16 slices rye
bread, for serving

• butter, for
spreading

• 1 packet or
400g can sauerkraut, rinsed and well drained

• 8 slices Swiss
cheese

• 1 quantity Dill
and garlic pickles

1. Rinse the piece
of corned beef and pat dry with paper towel. Place the meat into a large pot
with the brown sugar, malt vinegar, onion, bay leaf , peppercorns and orange.
Add enough water to just cover the meat and bring to the boil over a high heat.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 1¼ to 1½ hours or until the meat is
tender when tested. Remove form the heat and allow the meat to cool in the
cooking liquid.

2. Make the
Russian mayonnaise by combining the whole egg mayonnaise with the chilli sauce,
Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice and onion, set aside.

3. Drain the meat,
pat dry and remove any fat. Cut the meat into 3-4mm thick slices, set aside.

4. Spread the rye
bread slices with butter on one side. Place half of the bread slices butter
side down onto a board and spread with the Russian mayonnaise. Divide the meat
slices evenly between the sandwiches top with sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Spread
Russian mayonnaise on the inside of the remaining bread slices and top the sandwiches,
butter side out.

5. Heat a large non-stick
frying pan over a medium heat and place the sandwiches into the pan.

6. Cook for 7-10
minutes each side or until the rye bread has toasted and the filling is hot.
Serve with Dill and garlic pickles.

the food dept. fact:Cook the meat the day before to save time. It is also best to have all of
the sandwich fillings at room temperature before assembling, this will make
sure that you have a piping hot centre in your Reuben sandwich when its cooked.

Garlic and Dill Pickles

Makes 2 x 500g
jars.

• 2 x 250g
packets baby cucumber

• iced water

• 2 cloves
garlic, sliced

• ½ cup dill
sprigs

• 2 cups water

• 2 tablespoons
salt flakes

• ¼ cup white
vinegar

• 2 tablespoons
sugar

1. Place the baby
cucumbers into a large bowl filled with iced water. Allow the cucumbers to
stand for an hour to crisp them so that you get a crunchy pickle.

2. Drain the
cucumbers and pack into sterilized jars with garlic slices and dill sprigs.

3. Combine the 2
cups water, salt , vinegar and sugar in a large jug, stir until the salt and
sugar have dissolved.

4. Pour into the
jars until the cucumbers are covered.

5. Seal the jars
and store in the refrigerator for 1-2 days before eating and then they will
keep for 2 weeks in the refrigerator

The Food Dept.'s Cherry Vodka Cola Float

Dessert as a drink! What a great way to end a fun ‘diner’ meal.

• 300g fresh or
frozen cherries

• 300ml good
quality vodka

• vanilla ice
cream

• cola

1. Place the
frozen cherries into a sterilized jar and pour over the vodka. If the cherries
are icey you can give them a quick rinse under cold water to remove any excess
ice - you don’t want to water down the vodka.

2. Pour over the
vodka and seal the jar, allow to stand in a cool dark place for at least a
week, giving the jar a gentle shake every few days.

3. Once the vodka
has had a chance to stand for at least a week it is ready to use. Place 2
tablespoons cherry vodka and a few of the cherries into a tall serving glass,
add a scoop of ice cream then top with as little or as much cola as you like,
we recommend ½ cup.

4. Give it a
gentle stir and serve immediately.

the food dept. fact: We used frozen cherries for this recipe because they are
available all year but you can of course use fresh cherries when in season. Pit
the cherries or leave them whole and just split them down the side, if you
leave the pit in, it will give the vodka a slightly bitter, nutty flavour.

I love the burger and sandwich very much. All recipes go into very details step by step, very nice instructions. Guess we can have a completed American style meal at home anytime now. The cola float is so nice and easy to make, I think I am going to have it very often. :)